The Thing About Life
by Fading-into-night
Summary: He wasn't there, so she went to look for him. And they talked. They talked about the junk she knew he didn't like. The things he said he never thought about but always thought about. She only hoped she could settle his lifeless heart a little bit. K-plus just in case.


-xXXx-

She opened her eyes to sunlight, to an empty bed and a stomach full of butterflies. The light stung and she lifted a hand to block it. "Marshall?" she wondered softly, patting the space beside her in search of her immortal companion, only to find mused sheets and his cold shirt.

She quickly closed the shutters, slipping his shirt onto her arms and buttoning the middle two. "There," she muttered, "Semi-decent," and off she went, in search of Marshall Lee, the Vampire King. Surely, he wasn't outside. The sun was high and bright today, and his umbrella was leaned lazily against her nightstand. At least she knew he was still inside the house, somewhere.

With a tug of his shirt and a running of fingers through sleek, somewhat bed-messy golden hair, she waddled towards the kitchen to grab a bite, even if he wasn't there. It wasn't like he would be leaving anytime soon. She could take her time. The sandwich she ate didn't satisfy her hunger for heroism and justice and Marshall dang it where was he?! She started when she realized she wasn't really_ looking_ for him as much as she was eating.

She stood quietly, frowning. Maybe she should really get to searching like she had initially intended. Stuffing the last bite of her breakfast into her mouth, she disposed of her plates and padded away from the kitchen, towards the darker parts of the house, where the curtains were drawn and shadows simmered and twisted all around her.

She was a bit surprised to find him lying in the middle of the floor, in front of the couch. He wasn't really doing anything, wasn't moving, he could have easily been dead a_nd she could have easily flipping out _if it hadn't been for the slow rise and fall of his chest. "Marshall Lee what the glob are you doing?" she puffed out a cheek and walked towards him, toeing his shoulder and grinning. But he didn't grin back.

For the longest time, he was quiet. "I can see up your shirt," he said suddenly.

If she could choose any moment at all to kick him, it would be right now. She jammed her heel against his stomach, effectively knocking the air from his lungs. He gave a puff, but otherwise didn't stop her. She knelt down beside him and repeated her question a bit less lightly. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking," he answered, his voice final as though it was all she really needed. His frown was deep and she could see his fangs pressing against his lips. His jaw was set, knuckles clenched so tight the gray had left his skin, stretched white over his sharp bones. He squared his shoulders and sat up, his back to her. "Thinking about… life. Yours, mostly,"

Her heart thundered and she frowned. She didn't like this. All this mushy junk. The romance math Cake dreamily sighed about after coming home from a date with Lord Monochromacorn, the stuff she used to wrinkle her nose at and call sick. She couldn't wrap her head around it, but she knew it was what she wanted with Marshall. She wanted to where those uncomfortable dresses around him, even if she couldn't hold all her weapons, because he would smile and compliment her, he would grin and tease her but he would carry her and fly around, and even if he hated to admit it he thought she looked pretty. She took off her hat and let her hair down because he would run his fingers through it and hold her. She didn't like it when he was sad. She didn't know why, but it made her sad too, and she didn't like that. It made her queasy, made her mad at whatever made him feel that way.

But Fionna knew what he meant. Life. Her life. Her _mortal _life. "Why?"

"I'm always thinking about it, Fionna. Always," his voice cracked and she thought he might be crying. But that was silly, the Vampire King didn't cry. He couldn't. Right?

He was so… tired. Tired of having to worry about these kinds of things. His eyes closed and he wished that maybe, just for a little while, he could be human. Even if it meant he would be one of the only two humans that existed within all of Aaa, even if he would have to give up the taste of red and the floating and the powers, because then he would give up immortality. He didn't want it anymore. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Fionna touched his hand.

"I'm here, Marshall," she began, voice a little shaky for an adventuress, too fragile. He felt like he would break her. "It doesn't matter what happens who knows when. I'm just gonna think about now. Here, okay?" when he looked at her, he saw the red in her cheeks and could tell just how embarrassed she was. "Y-you know I'm not good at this, gosh darn it Marshall—"

He cut her off with a closed mouth kiss and grinned his normal cheeky grin. "You should probably put on some real clothes. And it took her several moments to realize he had popped the only two buttons holding her shirt together.

-xXXx-

I wrote this by inspiration from a picture I saw drawn by Planetariums on Tumblr, a picture of Fionna and Marshall Lee sitting on the floor, Fionna in his shirt, holding his hand, and saying, "I'm here." and just that inspired me so okay thank you for reading this! I hope you liked it. Drop a review and tell me what you think UuU


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